God Works In Mysterious, Often Annoying Ways
The expression “God works in mysterious ways” used to annoy the BLEEP out of me. When living without faith, strange, serendipitous, inexplicable things would happen and they made me miserable.
Why God? Why?
The hardest question to answer in a therapeutic space is Why? Particularly if it is asked in a faithless environment. Research shows that spirituality and religiousness often benefit mental and physical health, but it’s also hard for health insurance companies to bill for, so often prayer is left out of mental health practice. It goes without saying, given the content on this blog, that I think that is a real shame.
In the past, when I would walk into a situation clearly aligned by the divine, I had no explanation for it, and I was too melancholy or cynical to even attribute it to good luck. Now, as I look back, I see those serendipitous moments as clear indications that Good (or God) was working in my life.
The fact of the matter is, the Universe has a lot of lessons to teach many people, and we are, believe it or not, not the center of it. When I run into someone who makes me miserable, there are lessons for me to learn in that encounter, but also for the other person. When I succeed and someone else fails or vice versa, the faithless would call it dumb luck, but maybe I had one lesson to learn and the other person had another.
I have reached a point of almost blind acceptance. Sure, I ask a rhetorical why? out of sheer childishness (I can’t have what I want?! No fair!) and I still struggle against various fates a little bit, but I also have enough faith by now that I believe in my path and the lessons encountered on it, even if they are painful. Perhaps especially when they are.
Because of this grand experiment you all bear witness to, where I just committed to praying and having faith no matter what nearly 300 days ago, I now genuinely believe God has Good in store for me. Just yesterday, the Universe offered up a big fat NO, again, to a question I have been asking over and over for a long time, and miracle of miracles, my first instinct, honest to God, was gratitude.
That is, like, next level BLEEP right there.
I can throw a first-rate internal tantrum when I don’t get what I want, but lately, I am starting to look for God (or Good) in all things first, so it doesn’t really make any sense to throw a BLEEPfit over an answer I don’t like. I am starting to assume Good (or God) has even better things in store for me, so why fight for less?
The expression God works in mysterious ways used to feel like someone trying to put a bandaid over a stab wound. As in, it didn’t work or feel very good. Now, I be like, Good DOES work in mysterious ways and I am ON. BOARD. Perhaps you should be on board with it, too.